Huskers Host Iowa, Minnesota on Senior Night

The No. 10 Nebraska men’s gymnastics team hosts their first triangular of the season, facing Big Ten foes Minnesota and Iowa. The Huskers come off of a one-week break after a strong battle against No.3 Oklahoma. NU will compete in the track facilities inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center on March 16. The meet is set to kick off at 7 p.m. CST. Live stats will be available on Huskers.com for those who are unable to attend the meet. This will be the first Nebraska home meet that will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Fans who can’t make it to the meet can also follow the Huskers on Twitter (@NebraskaMGym) or on Facebook (facebook.com/NebraskaMGym) for live updates from the meet.

The Huskers look to see their second win of the season against the Golden Gophers and Hawkeyes. NU dominated at their home opener against UIC, claiming the top spots both individually and as a team on all six events, as well as in the individual all-around. Since then, Nebraska has failed to overcome its opponent by the end of the meet. The Huskers have already faced Minnesota and Iowa, both times on the road.

Scouting the Golden Gophers

A Glance at Minnesota

Head Coach: Mike Burns

2013 Record: 7-6

2013 High Score: 435.450 (at Oklahoma, 2/16/13)

After holding the No. 6 spot for most of the 2013 season, Minnesota dropped to the No. 7 spot after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes at home. Minnesota first saw the Huskers on Feb. 2 at the John Roethlisberger Iceberg Invitational. The Golden Gophers took home the meet win before hitting the road for a three-meet stretch. Minnesota struggled at the beginning of their road campaign, suffering losses to both Iowa and Oklahoma. The Minneapolis-based team then regained their strength with a win against UIC, followed by a second victory against Iowa at home. Minnesota then traveled to Champaign, Ill., on March 8, where they lost to the Illini by almost ten points.

Scouting the Hawkeyes

A Glance at Iowa

Head Coach: JD Reive

2013 Record: 6-9

2013 High Score: 428.450 (at Illinois, 2/16/13)

No. 9 Iowa last saw Nebraska on Feb. 23 in Iowa City, Iowa, where they beat the Huskers by just under two points. The Hawkeyes saw a slow start to their 2013 season, finishing towards the bottom at both the Windy City Invitational and the Metroplex Challenge. Then, after losing to Oklahoma at home, Iowa saw a three-meet winning streak, including a home win against Nebraska. The Hawkeyes' last meet was against the Golden Gophers at Minnesota, where they fell by 12 points.

Looking Ahead

Nebraska faces No. 6 Illinois for their last regular season meet of 2013. The Huskers will travel to Champaign, Ill., to face the Illini in Huff Hall on March 23 at 4 p.m. CST. After facing Illinois, NU will take one more week off in preparation for the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 5-6.

Last Time Out: Huskers Battle Against Oklahoma

Marking the second of three home meets for the season, Nebraska faced the No. 3 Sooners. Competing in front of a season-high home crowd of 580 spectators, the Huskers held Oklahoma to a 9.5 point gap.

Freshman Sam Chamberlain kicked off the meet with a personal best 14.20 on floor. Despite some major difficulties, Nebraska managed to earn four scores above a 14.00 on the event. All-American Grant Perdue performed a strong routine until his dismount, where he struggled. Louis Klein took home second overall on the event with a 15.00, falling just behind Oklahoma's Alec Robin (15.20).

NU grabbed the top team score on vault, beating Oklahoma by 0.950 on the event. All five of the Huskers on the event earned a 14.35 or better. All arounder CJ Schaaf also scored above a 14.00 on vault in the all around sixth position.

The Huskers also earned the team title on parallel bars with a group score of 72.300. Chamberlain, Mark Ringle and Eric Schryver all earned a score of 14.60 on the aparatus. Schaaf led the team on the event, earning a career-best 14.70.

Nebraska took home top three individual finishes on all of the events and swept the parallel bars podium. Schryver took home the pommel horse title and Schaaf grabbed the parallel bars title. Klein (floor and high bar), Chamberlain (parallel bars), Ringle (parallel bars), Grant Perdue (vault) and Donovan Arndt (rings) all earned top-three spots in the overall standings.

Though Oklahoma won the meet, the Huskers posted their highest team score of the season. NU’ 426.350 surpassed their score of 425.400, which they earned in Iowa City, Iowa, on Feb. 23. Nebraska’s highest scoring rotation of the night was on vault (72.950), while their lowest scoring was a tie between pommel horse and high bar (69.200).

Nebraska Holds On to Top-Ten Status

The Huskers stuck to the tenth position in the GymInfo national rankings for the fourth week in a row. California surpassed Iowa this week for the No. 8 position, bumping the Hawkeyes down to the ninth place spot.

Nebraska dropped to ninth on pommel horse, unable to earn above a 70.000 against the Sooners. The Huskers hold a three-score average of 70.383 on the event.

Junior Eric Schryver dropped from the pommel horse rankings during the Huskers' week off. Teammate CJ Schaaf dropped to the No. 13 spot nationally in the all-around, despite improving his average to an 82.850.

Perdue remained a nationally-ranked athlete on both floor and vault. The 2012 All-American duplicated his mistakes that cost him points in Iowa City, causing him to drop to the No. 14 spot on floor. Perdue's impressive 14.90 vault improved his national average to a 15.00, bumping him up to the tenth position.

Klein hung onto the 16th spot on floor, increasing his average by 0.05 points. Klein returned to the top-20 after dropping our during the Huskers' two week hiatus.